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Ian J. Stewart is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies and runs Project Alpha at King's College London, a collection of projects that collectively work to understand and counter proliferation related trade. A former Managing the Atom/International Security Research Fellow, Stewart came to King's College London from the British Ministry of Defence, where he was an analyst working on issues related to non-proliferation and illicit trade. Before this, Ian held a variety of roles in the MOD including supporting the UK's nuclear deterrent and undertaking a placement in the British Embassy, Washington DC.

How do nuclear weapons change the foreign policies of the states that acquire them? This seminar offers a theory explaining the origins of six foreign policy behaviors that nuclear acquisition may facilitate. The theory describes which of these behaviors states are likely to find attractive and thus which behaviors states are likely to use nuclear acquisition to facilitate.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a vigorous public and academic debate on which grand strategy the United States should pursue. It has also narrowed to essentially three positions. First, deep engagement proponents define U.S. interests broadly and advocate an expansive role for the U.S. military in the world. Second, restraint proponents define U.S. interests narrowly and advocate a moderately reduced U.S. military role. Third, neo-isolationists also define U.S. interests narrowly but advocate a drastically reduced U.S. military role.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Nikos Passas is a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University. He specializes in the study of corruption, illicit financial/trade flows, sanctions, informal fund transfers, remittances, white-collar crime, terrorism, financial regulation, organized crime and international crime. He will present an MTA seminar on illicit commercial flows - what they hide and how to stop them.

For many years, the United States has maintained a formal extended deterrence commitment to protect Japan that has included the possible use of nuclear weapons. This MTA seminar will examine the history of the U.S. nuclear umbrella for Japan, the role of the umbrella plays in Japanese and U.S. security planning, and questions regarding the credibility of the commitment.

Coffee and tea provided. Please join us - Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Multilateral institutions are proliferating in seemingly every sphere of international cooperation. From the environment to economics, from security to the nuclear realm, a growing number of institutions at the regional, transnational and bilateral levels are complementing the work of already established global institutions. But what drives this phenomenon, and more importantly, who stands to gain from it and why? The central argument of this MTA seminar is that institutional proliferation should be read both as a functional and a strategic phenomenon.

Coffee and tea provided. Please join us - Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. NOTE - NEW DATE AND LOCATION.

Please join the Managing the Atom/Defense and Intelligence Projects for a screening of the classic 1964 film, Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb on the 50th anniversary of its release.This co-sponsored event will be followed by a brief discussion on the most important questions the film raises, moderated by Research Fellows and United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonels Jay Folds (MTA/ISP) and Douglas Gosney (ISP).

Pizza and refreshments provided. Please join us - Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Are there any circumstances under which China can be more transparent regarding nuclear deterrence and ambiguity? MTA fellow Han Hua will present a seminar on the implications of this questions. This seminar will also touch upon U.S. strategic posturing and China's attitude towards transparency.

Coffee and tea provided. Please join us - Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations are undertaking an unprecedented operation in Syria: disarming a country of a particular type of weaponry in the midst of a civil war. Professor Findlay will discuss the issue in the context of the overlapping legal, institutional, technical, and political demands being made of Syria and the prospects for success of the operation.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Libya's decision to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions has been interpreted by most observers as support for the idea that mixed strategies are good policy. Although they disagree over which particular tools of influence were most important, most agree that some mixture of coercion and inducements explains Gaddafi's decision to disarm. This is not, however, supported by the evidence.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

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